Traditional politics (trapo) was all in its full glory and from now on is expected to be the new normal in Noynoy’s visits to calamity-hit areas of the country.
And these are expected to be many as the typhoon season peaks until late this year.
Whoever in the Liberal Party (LP) stable that thought of turning the crisis into political opportunity from the worsening global weather condition, deserves a medal from Machiavelli and a slot in the hit list of the Red army.
The Palace may have thought that it was a political masterstroke for Noynoy to bring his senatoriables to the disaster areas after the week-long rains capped by a 48-hour deluge that submerged Metro Manila that photographs were taken, showing, on top of a military truck, Noynoy with celebrity sister Kris Aquino, perennial presidential wannabe Mar Roxas, and LP senatorial candidates Rufy Biazon, Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel and Joel Villanueva all in poster-perfect campaign demeanor.
Yet trapo is trapo and the public easily saw through the feigned concerns of Noynoy and his opportunist pack that all went into the calamity areas armed with Dinky Soliman’s relief bags.
And in one area visited, as recounted by one witness, a military truck picked up some flood victims to bring them to a specific evacuation center where Noynoy was due to visit. Even in calamity, there appears the same trapo hakot politics.
All through it, the one dominating thought to the witnesses of the blatant opportunism was that 2013 is in the air.
It was a distasteful show, worse than using the funeral of Noynoy’s mother to launch a political ambition. It was crass, it was deplorable and people should remember the opportunism of those who participated in it.
Many were led to believe that Noynoy was a breath of fresh air in Philippine politics, the reason for his victory in the 2010 elections at a time when the nation was nearly numbed by the brand of manipulative politics of Gloria Arroyo.
He was packaged as a son of two democracy symbols and is not capable of doing anything wrong but turned out, instead, to be not capable of doing anything at all.
Noynoy is bringing back the politics of old, the one that he and his partymates appeared to be comfortable with. It would be like coming home for Noynoy since growing up as a child of the late Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., this is what he was accustomed to. That brand of dirty politics was what gave the idea to former President Marcos to launch his New Society movement only that it was much reviled since it was accompanied by the installation of martial rule.
The LP was very much part of that old politics that the nation had long sought to get rid of, but like an addiction to a chemical substance, cannot avoid it when it is introduced into their system.
Noynoy and his LP should hold their horses and not pounce on the vulnerability of people to gain political mileage, if not patronage, in the run up to the voting next year.
There is also that plan being cooked up by the LP to put up a one-off P25 billion funding supposedly for flood control next year that would be raised from the proceeds of the sin tax legislation that in turn is being rushed by Noynoy’s House allies for approval by October.
In all, what can pass off as social welfare funds but has the potential of being LP campaign funds for next year will be more than P60 billion from the flood control money and with P41 billion funds from the conditional cash transfer or CCT program for next year.
For Noynoy and his allies all roads now lead to 2013.